TV Review: Sky 1's SPY 1.1
Episode 1 is a lot of set up, not much happening and some cheap comedy that doesn’t make you laugh.
Last night saw Sky Ones new comedy Spy premiere on the telebox. When Tim's (Darren Boyd) son Marcus (Jude Wright) is comes to stay after an under handed trick in a custody battle with his ex-wife it gives Tim the chance to impress his son, but his dead end job at Computer Galaxy isnt doing it. When he gets accidentally recruited for MI5 things should get better, but dont. Marcus despises his Father and wants to spend as little time with his as possible. Despite only being 9 years old Marcus is clearly a lot more grown up than his Father and is a right little smart arse. When Tim realises his life is going nowhere he decides to make some changes. He quits his job, unknowingly applies for one at MI5 and gets it. Despite being a complete idiot. The Examiner (Robert Lindsay) sips from a hip flask whilst watching over the exam and clearly doesnt realise that Tim is a nobody whilst interviewing him. He thinks Tim's ignorant answers to his interview questions are him being cool and despite eventually working out the mix up he still offers Tim a job. And a gun. Would MI5 really give a job as a spy to a man who works in PC world and takes action figures to an exam? Apparently he actually nailed their exam, despite taking action figures with him in his pencil case and tripping over his desk. Tim relishes in telling Marcus he got the job, but declines the opportunity to tell him exactly what it is. The show is a clear reversal of roles with Tim acting like a child seeking his Fathers approval whilst Marcus is the hard to impress Father type who is clearly more intelligent and has high standards. A clever idea, but it never totally works as a fully-grown man acts like a school kid. Why he would take action figures to an interview exam is beyond me? The comedy is a little lacking with set ups like Tim attending the job centre and being told of what jobs are out there by a job centre worker whos personality changes from over friendly to over judgmental being annoying and not very funny. As is when Tim drops his gun as he leaves the building after getting the job. And stalling his car just after telling Marcus he got the job. Despite them all trying desperately hard to be funny. Episode 1 is a lot of set up, not much happening and some cheap comedy that doesnt make you laugh. The only thing that comes across is that it seems pretty easy to get a job at MI5. It probably pays a lot more than what I'm doing at the moment so I'm getting my application in ASAP. But, I'm not watching next weeks episode of Spy.